Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card

Scotia’s New Travel Credit Card Miles Ahead of Competitors

Previously, if you were on the lookout for travel credit cards issued by major Canadian banks that do not charge foreign currency transaction fees and offer free lounge access, you were out of luck. You could find cards that offer free lounge access, such as the BMO World Elite MasterCard, but getting one with both free lounge access and zero foreign currency fees was out of the question.

However, it all changed when Scotia Bank launched its Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card offering both free lounge access and zero foreign currency fees. Better yet, this card even has a lower annual fee ($140) than BMO World Elite MC ($150) and giving more free lounge entrances (6 vs BMO’s 4) via the Priority Pass program.

Scotiabank placed itself as a leader and miles ahead of other major banks by offering a zero foreign currency conversion fee with no conversion mark-up and 6 free lounge visits. Canadians have long been waiting for this type of card. Since Chase Bank pulled out its 2 zero foreign currency credit cards from Canada, the vacuum in this segment of the credit card market grew and Scotia realized faster than other banks that there was a great opportunity there.

Of course, the Scotia Passport Visa Infinite Credit Card is not a perfect travel credit card and it has its flaws. For example, it does not offer accelerated points for travel spending and all the travel insurances this card offers are not usable because the 3rd party provider makes it difficult to fulfill claims based on countless Internet reviews, ratings, and complaints.

But still, Scotia took a step in the right direction by offering the first no foreign currency fees credit card issued by one of the major Canadian banks and by lighting the path for other big Canadian banks.

CIBC Got This Right! (After Publishing CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite)

CIBC Reached Out to Me

Recently, I published my experience obtaining a CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite credit card that took almost a month. The experience was mainly negative. You can read about by clicking the links provided below.

But what happened after these posts went online went beyond my expectations. CIBC actually reached out to me and made things right by doing a few things. That’s what I will talk about today.

In this age of Internet and social media, it’s hard to ignore when something is up and people are talking about it. That’s what makes the difference when companies are paying attention or not. Here are the things that CIBC got and did right.

Keeping an Eye Open – CIBC was keeping an eye on the Internet and social media. That’s what everyone should do if they care about their reputation and customers’ feedback.

Reaching Out – Not only were they keeping an eye open, but CIBC also reached out. By contacting me, CIBC shows that they are willing to exchange ideas to make things right and makes things better.

Taking Responsibility and Making Customers Happy – CIBC took responsibility for what happened and acknowledged that they are aware of the issue and will work to improve it. Better yet, they offered me 5000 bonus miles, which was beyond my expectations.

CIBC did not have to do any of these things, but in doing so they proved that they are willing to go that extra mile to keep their customers happy and make everything right. That’s how other big banks and credit card companies should act, but that regrettably does not happen most of the time.

I mentioned before that CIBC customer service is not available 24 hours and if you get stranded in foreign countries or anywhere after hours, there is no help. CIBC corrected me, mentioning that you can call their 24-hour emergency line for any reason. Their regular customer service is the one that’s not open 24 hours.

NB – This is not a paid or affiliated post. All articles or videos on AhmedDawn.com or YouTube.com/ADawn channel are non-affiliated, unbiased, and honest.

New Brim Credit Cards Bring New Perspectives

Brim Credit Cards Canada

Brim Financial is launching new credit cards on the Canadian market that will change the credit card game. These cards have features and flexibilities never seen before in Canada. Today, I will touch base on some of the features. Please visit my video on this as well to learn more.

Rewards Structure – There are no limits on how or when you can redeem. Also, there are no specific categories to earn accelerated points. If you shop more at the same stores, the earn rate increases.

Installment Payment Options – Brim will offer the ability to set up install payments towards a purchase that can be paid in installments at a set lower interest rate (they call it one time installment fee) without affecting the rest of the credit limit. 

Free Boingo Global Wi-Fi – Access to 1 million Boingo Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe. A neat perk that would come in handy when you travel.

0% Foreign Transaction Fee – This is one of the most sought after features on Canadian credit cards. Especially since the Marriott Rewards & Amazon credit cards offered by Chase (that provided no foreign currency fee) are no longer available in Canada.

Travel Insurances Provided by Reputable Canadian Provider – Another feature, which is my favourite, is that the Brim World Elite MasterCard offers full travel insurances (Trip Cancellation, Hotel/Motel Burglary, Travel Medical, etc.) by a reputable Canadian insurance provider. This is unlike Scotia Amex Gold and many other Canadian travel cards serviced by the same insurance company where the provider has bad ratings when it comes to fulfill claims.

Lounge Access – Brim’s higher-end cards will provide lounge access through Lounge Key. However, it is not clear how many visits will be included or it’s just the membership they will offer.

And packed with much more features (including real-time payment clearing to open up available credit limit without waiting 2-3 days), it may sound like that these new Brim Credit Cards are too good to be true. We will need to wait and see when the cards come out.

Brim’s website (https://brimfinancial.com) is accepting applications, so when I applied it told me that they will contact me once they start processing my application. I do have a video on Brim and here is the link you can follow to watch: 

CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Card Ends Manufactured Spending

CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Card Ends 

Manufactured spending is one of the vehicles travel hackers use to generate points. This is simply manufacturing credit card spending, instead of real spending to create transactions that generates points and later on to deposit the money back into the account.

I am not going into the detail of manufactured spending. The CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Visa Prepaid Card was one of the easiest ways to create manufactured spending in Canada.

The AC Conversion card had a feature that let you load Canadian dollars from other credit cards and unload Canadian dollars from CIBC bank machines at no cost. This would create transactions on the credit cards you are loading from to generate points.

Initially the limit was $3,000 a day, then it was reduced to $2,000 a day. When card management found out what’s going on, they reduced it $100 per day because they were bleeding money paying other credit card fees.

In the interim, many people got points and miles millionaires utilizing the loophole. It was like a dream come true for travel hackers to easily generate points using the AC Conversion card.

However, now CIBC Air Canada AC Conversion Card has decided that they still can’t afford to give away $100 per days as they can’t recoup the expenses and they are closing the loophole beginning April 13, 2018. After this date, Canadian currencies are no longer allowed to load and unload. You can load other supported currencies, however. If you try to load other currencies and unload Canadian dollars, the machines will dispense US$. So it will no longer make sense to use this card to create manufactured spending and the loophole that existed for many years will be sealed.

If you would like to watch my video on this, click on this link.

CIBC AC Air Canada Credit Card Ends

On my YouTube channel, you will find more videos like this.

Where Is My CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Card?

My CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Card?

Today I will talk about my experience applying for a CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite credit card. What could have possibly gone wrong went wrong with the process and that’s what I will share.

On Jan 13, 2018, I called in to apply for a CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite card and an American Express AeroplanPlus Gold credit card. Within a week, by the following Friday, my Amex AeroplanPlus Card arrived, but there was no news from CIBC.

After around 10 days, I received a call from CIBC asking to call them back for further information. When I called back, the guy asked me what credit limit I wanted. For example, $5,000 or $10,000, or something else. I mentioned that $5,000 would just fine. He said I should be receiving my card shortly.

3 weeks passed and nothing arrived, so I called them again. They had difficulty tracking my application, but finally they were able to find it. I was told that the last person I talked to did not do his job or he forgot and no credit card was mailed out. They said it would be mailed out shortly. I was still calm and accepted CIBC’s poor service.

The next day, on Feb 5, 2018, I received another email from CIBC asking to call them again for information verification. It was like deja vu. So I called back as I got irritated. The rep was apologetic and mentioned that it was their back office that caused all these delays and assured me this time it would be OK.

Finally, nearly after one month, I received my card in the mail. I never had this type of issue with anyone else before. My credit score is usually above 800 and I get whatever credit card I apply for right away. So this was a lesson for me on how disorganised and inefficient CIBC’s back office is.

Another thing I found out is that CIBC’s regular credit card customer service (not the lost or emergency line) is not open 24 hours. It is very important to have a credit card that offers 24-hour customer service. You just never know when you need to call them. For example, you are travelling and your card is declined or you just have a question and you can’t get a hold of anyone due to a time difference.

I have a few CIBC credit cards, but none of them are my primary credit cards. And due to poor customer service, I intend to keep it that way.